One of several colorful cocktails available at Maxine’s
Photo: Courtesy, Maxine’s Tap Room
A Fayetteville cocktail bar is one of the 10 best places to get a drink in the US.
That’s according to a new list published by renowned bartender Kate Gerwin, who included longtime Fayetteville establishment Maxine’s Tap Room on her list of her 10 best cocktail bars published last week by USA Today.
Gerwin’s got some credentials, too. She’s been a top bartender for more than 20 years, who became the first woman and first American to win the Bols Around the World Bartending Championship in 2014. She was named on of the industry’s Top 100 Most Influential Figures in the World by Drinks International, and has served as a sommelier for some of the top wineries in Napa Valley.
Here’s what she had to say about Maxine’s:
Maxine’s is what bartenders look for in cocktail bars. Believe it or not, veteran bartenders rarely go out on the prowl for cocktails. We typically sip on fermented beverages and straight spirits in our downtime and prioritize environment over cocktails, but Maxine’s has both – environment and noteworthy cocktails.
They have a fun and playful menu, and they don’t take themselves too seriously, but their cocktails are crushable.
Maxine’s credits local bartender Shawn Traxler of Vault Bar for introducing Gerwin to the establishment. Traxler is also well known in the bartending world for his talent as a mixologist.
“Our talented friend, Shaun Traxler from Vault, makes some serious rounds in the bartending world. And sometimes he introduces his talented friends to this old bar, and they put us on a list as top ten bars in USA TODAY,” Maxine’s wrote on their Facebook page last week about their inclusion on the list.
“We’re blushing over all of this right now, because Fayetteville is awesome like that.”
